33: Llanelly had last Welsh chance
Llanelly was the last chance for a Welsh team to emulate the 1905 victory of Wales over the All Blacks, and they didn't mind how they attempted to win this time.
Stradey Park was a bog. Mud stuck to everything.
All Blacks five-eighths Neil McGregor said it was 'a poor exhibition of football, one of our worst so far.'[1]
The home team used their notorious 'dip'. The natural slope to one corner of the ground was where many an opposing team had been undone while battling uphill to get out of trouble.
George Nepia said that having played Wales on Saturday and then facing Llanelly on Tuesday, there were players on the field who would have been better off working out bumps and bruises from the Test match. He was one who played under duress. Bert Cooke played against doctor's orders, driven by the fact that he had been born in Llanelly before his family emigrated to New Zealand.
Mark Nicholls, McGregor, Quentin Donald, Jack Steel, Jimmy Mill, and Jim Parker all rested. Cliff Porter returned, along with Lui Paewai, Handley Brown, Bill Dalley, Gus Hart, and Brian McCleary.
Llanelly was forced to touch down twice in the first minute for a 25-yard dropout. Their defence was solid, and it was 13 minutes into the game before Hart took a wild Llanelly kick on his twenty-five, beat the wing and fullback, headed off the cover defence and scored under the posts.
Cyril Brownlie scores. Daily Sketch, 7 January 1925
The All Blacks scored their final try 26 minutes into the game, with Maurice Brownlie starting a passing rush with Irvine, Cyril Brownlie and Dalley before Svenson scored, having earlier been denied a chance.
But at this stage, the All Blacks ran out of steam, and 'Ginger' Nicholls said he detected the first sign of staleness among the pack. It had been tough to play a strong side so soon after Saturday's Test. Llanelly sensed their chance and mounted assault after assault but found Nepia a constant barrier until Finch finally got through.
Earlier, Cyril Brownlie had gotten a hand to an attempted penalty goal [as the laws allowed at the time]. The All Blacks spent much of the first half in their 25. The home team mounted dribbling and sweeping rushes while the All Blacks still tried passing the greasy ball. Yet, the result was fair as the All Blacks always seemed better finished and more dangerous.
The Welsh team played the correct game on such a sticky ground and with a slippery ball, and our boys would have been well advised to have trusted more to their feet than their hands. The All Blacks are not good dribblers, and time and again, our efforts at handling broke down – mistakes which were quickly seized on by the Llanelly forwards and turned to good advantage by close rushes and dribbling.
The referee, W.J. Llewellyn, was very hard to understand. He allowed the home side too much freedom on the off-side rule, and Dalley was smothered throughout, never getting a chance. Porter also had a great job to keep on the right side of him; he watched Porter like a cat.[2]
Dr Morgan felt the result was fair. While Llanelly enjoyed a territorial advantage, they couldn't match the All Blacks for finish and inspiration. The tourists scored 13 minutes into the game when Gus Hart took a poor Llanelly kick on New Zealand's 25. He beat the wing and fullback, then headed off the cover defence and scored under the posts. Twenty-five minutes had gone when the All Blacks pack changed their tactics and released the ball for the backs to have a chance, and it was 'Snowy' Svenson who took his chance to score out wide. The New Zealanders had an 8-3 lead by halftime, Llanelly having scored courtesy of a try to wing Ernie Finch.
Rumours have been circling round that when Ernie Finch scored his try he was so scared that he stopped dead in his tracks and that, when I went through with my tackle, I missed him and that this was how he scored his try.
The truth is that Ernie Finch broke through, and I was getting across to crash-tackle him; he showed what a brilliant winger he was. At the critical moment, and just a second or two before I launched the tackle, Ernie swerved into me, breaking my speed and my timing, and then swung outwards again. By the time I regathered speed, Ernie had scored a lovely try.
I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I was beaten by a player in that kind of situation, and Ernie Finch was one of that small number.[3]
The second half was scoreless as the pack showed signs of tiredness. But they emerged unbeaten during their visit to the Principality, the first international team to do so. Morgan said they had shown a fine level of sportsmanship during their stay.
They have shown their ability to take hard knocks, and what appear to be unfair decisions, without the slightest trace of ill-feeling.[4]
Scorers: Llanelly 3 (Ernie Finch try) New Zealand 8 (Gus Hart, 'Snowy' Svenson tries; George Nepia conversion). HT: 3-8. Referee W.J. Llewellen, NZ touch judge, S.F. Wilson.
Assessing their side in Northampton before playing East Midlands, the All Blacks had an injury list of Mark Nicholls, Ron Stewart, 'Son' White, Ian Harvey, Abe Munro, Neil McGregor and Alf West, while Maurice Brownlie was stale.
Mistakes dogged the All Blacks and gave the home team more opportunities than they might typically have achieved. On the tour, it was a rare occasion when the tourists secured 75 per cent of the possession. In their desire to get their game going, the All Blacks moved away from the teamwork that usually served them so well. Bert Cooke tried to sort out the situation by trying things on his own, while Jimmy Mill kicked much more than usual. Arthur Carman put the effort down to a loss of passing combination and confidence during their games in Wales. While the East Midlanders were not shy about going down on the ball, they were no match for the All Blacks' pace, skill, and depth.
East Midlands scored first when their first five-eighths Bobby Jones made an impressive run from 25 yards out to outpace the defence after a kick had been put in behind fullback George Nepia. That fired up the All Blacks, but it took them 33 minutes to find their combinations, and it was wing Jack Steel who got them on the board with a try, followed soon after with a try to Cyril Brownlie following an impressive burst by Cliff Porter. That gave New Zealand an 8-3 lead at the break.
'Ginger' Nicholls was more relieved with the second half when the scrum dominance gave the backs a surfeit of possession.
Our backs brought off some bewildering movements at great pace. C. Brownlie and Brown scored perfect tries. They simply overran the opposition. Cooke scored after making some of his characteristic dashes, and coming through for the reverse pass, and Steel topping off fine passing bouts by scoring twice, after making good runs along the touch line. Nepia, playing his twenty-third game, gave a splendid exhibition, defending with great skill and repeatedly opening up the game for the three-quarters. His goal-kicking could not have been better. It is pleasing to see Jack Steel playing great football. His play was one of the outstanding features of the game, showing rare speed. He ran with splendid determination, scoring in all three tries. Brown played with great dash and scored a beautiful try; his defence was also of the best.[5]
Scorers: East Midlands 7 (Bobby Jones try, dropped goal) New Zealand 31 (Jack Steel 3, Cyril Brownlie 2, Handley Brown, Bert Cooke tries; George Nepia 5 con). HT: 3-8. Referee A.E. Freethy, NZ touch judge S.F. Wilson.
NEXT ISSUE: Three more games before tour finale
[1] Neil McGregor, letter to Southland Times, published 24 January 1925
[2] H.E. 'Ginger' Nicholls, NZ Free Lance, 28 January 1925
[3] George Nepia, All Blacks v Llanelly programme, 1980
[4] Morgan, ibid
[5] H.E. 'Ginger' Nicholls, NZ Free Lance, 28 January 1925